But as long as we have trading factions that are literally teaching their new members how bad pirates are, we will always have this people.
There are a good amount of trading factions literally going: "If you get pirated, don't RP, just try to dock and log off. The pirates are literally only here to harm your gameplay, to kill you inRL and meme all day about you"
I think they're mostly missing perspective, Paul.
A lot of the 5k lawful traders who are willing to log off to avoid an encounter where they could lose 10 million credits on an ore run don't realise that we smugglers risk 100% of our cargo and double the time investment to ship 2.5k worth of contraband.
Lawfuls are 1) more common than pirates, and 2) more likely to just kill you or demand a cargo drop.
5k lawful traders who dislike piracy interactions would strongly benefit from trying to smuggle for money. The risk of being blown up on any one smuggling run is 1 in 3. The risk of pirates stopping you as a lawful trader is 1 in 10. The trick is to see the risk of interception as part of the fun and an essential part of the gameplay.
I prefer smuggling to lawful trading because I enjoy the risk of being blown up. The adrenaline is fun. If lawful traders could develop the same attitude, they'd probably get pirated less, since they'd take steps to defend against pirates, like buying armour, learning how to turret steer, or hiring escort mercenaries.
THE SYNDIC LEAGUES
(A co-operative of Rheinland's Shipping Unions, retired from a life of piracy.)